Where are the liberals and why are they not speaking up against the extremists?

1. They are outnumbered (the level of uneducated people who are extreme is far greater in these parts of the world than of those who are educated and are against this silliness.

2. They fear for their lives because if they speak up against the crazies they will be attacked and possibly killed. Trust me on this one, I've lived and worked in that part of the world.)

3. They leave their countries and assimilate/ keep a low profile in western countries (as me and my family have done) which is why you don't hear from them. You will only notice the crazies who don't want to integrate into western society.

The liberals who stand against this savagery exist in the Muslim world, they are not the majority, but they are there.

Oh absolutely. There are a few liberals...some who do speak out bravely.

Nevertheless i find it hard to believe that all those who blame everything on radical islamists and claim they are on the right path, educated and above all this are so heavily muzzled. All of them? Not one brave soul to take a stand for the religion of peace?

The maelstrom of anti-western violence in the Arab world has little to do with an anti-Islam propaganda film released on YouTube.

It has more to do with decades of perceived western imperialism – and the organisational skills of the Salafis, known for their no-compromise, literal interpretation of the faith.

Such rightwing Islamists were wrongfooted by the Arab spring. For years, the jihadis and Salafis thought they had a monopoly on revolution and were the only viable opposition to the Arab dictators.

When the regimes were threatened by popular uprisings, the Salafis took weeks and months to respond. In Libya they initially called for the demonstrators to support the ruler of the land, Muammar Gaddafi. As it became clear that the revolutions would not instantly deliver the brighter future people had marched for, the Salafis began to use that discontent to their advantage.

They are brilliant at agitating on the streets – working on the unemployed, the frustrated, people who feel life should be better. In Tunis, the Salafi agitation began months before the propaganda film – the Innocence of Muslims – surfaced. They attacked cinemas, secularists and artists. In Bahrain and Syria they worked along sectarian lines, and in Egypt they launched vicious confrontations with the Coptic Christians.

In Libya, the Salafis have been systematically burning Sufi shrines and trashing Christian cemeteries, while the government has felt too weak to confront them. Some of the demonstrations – in Damascus, Khartoum and Tehran – will have been backed by the state.

Anti-western sentiment is rife in the Arab world. Germans, British, Danish – all are deemed guilty for the colonial crimes of the past and present. The US, of course, is perceived as the most arrogant of all, with 50 or more years of perceived bigotry, support for Israel at the expense of the Palestinians, sanctions on Iran and occupation of Iraq.

Barack Obama's Arab honeymoon was squandered by drone attacks on Pakistan and Yemen and his impotence over Israel. As Salman Rushdie wrote recently in the New Yorker about the people who led the fatwa against him: "As for the British Muslim 'leaders', whom, exactly, did they lead? They were leaders without followers, mountebanks trying to make careers out of her brother's misfortune. For a generation, the politics of ethnic minorities in Britain had been secular and socialist. This was the mosques' way of getting religion into the driver's seat."

So it is with the Salafis. Very few of the people setting fire to the German embassy in Khartoum, attacking the American school in Tunis or torching a KFC in Beirut will have even seen the Innocence of Muslims. If the prophet had really been insulted, you would see 100 million in the streets. Instead we only see a few thousand.

Oh absolutely. There are a few liberals...some who do speak out bravely.

Nevertheless i find it hard to believe that all those who blame everything on radical islamists and claim they are on the right path, educated and above all this are so heavily muzzled. All of them? Not one brave soul to take a stand for the religion of peace?

I don't understand what you are saying there buddy, can you clarify?

I don't blame it on radical islamism, I blame it on lack of personal responsibility.... they want to blame it all on the west and on America, and they don't want to admit that they are in the wrong. Total bullshit

I don't blame it on radical islamism, I blame it on lack of personal responsibility.... they want to blame it all on the west and on America, and they don't want to admit that they are in the wrong. Total bullshit

I get the fact that there are liberals out there but i'm sure there must be (hopefully) liberal mosques and leaders who do have the clout to stand up. Remember Ben Franklin? " We should hang together lest we hang separately". It would seem logical that the "real" muslims would not want to have their religion hijacked and have all muslims blacklisted as a result. All of them cant be muzzled can they?

I know a couple of muslims who have tried to speak out and have even approached the heads of their mosques to address this growing rift. They were told to stop making waves.

Well the kid is an idiot. I'm an atheist myself but one must remember the saying "when in Rome" or in this case egypt. The kid is egyptian he should know what flies and what doesn't. He deserves whatever punishment he gets.

I also agree with bigAch. Nothing wrong with being ruled by a king or a "dictator". Democracy is not meant for everyone. Hell look at the USA, we had a great run but the country is quickly going down the shitter. Look at Saddam Hussein, we got rid of him why??? He kept Iraq under control, something the new govt and the help of NATO troops couldn't do.

I disagree. Leaving them alone will only allow them to fester and their numbers will swell. They need to be kept in check.

USA needs to pull the Zionist pole out of its ass, and then Muslims will not harsh hatred towards them. Give them the land back that was stolen and all would be well. I know this is a fantasy, as the Zionists control the USA.

politically correct liberals are sleep walking into a future of extremist muslim domination

HAHAHA. Yes, muslims go around knocking on doors everyday asking if you want to be one. Listen man. they don't bother anyone outside of their borders about being muslims. They live their own lives and their own way. USA and Israel in particular who drives the USA keep stiring up shit there. I guess it's okay for the USA to bomb litteraly every ME country over the last twenty years and kill probably millions, and some group does the 9/11 attacks and the USA acts ignorant as to why they hate them.

I laugh when the media was saying that Americans are struggling to understand the senseless violence. HAHAHA. Americans can't understand sensless violence? They fucking invented it.

HAHAHA. Yes, muslims go around knocking on doors everyday asking if you want to be one. Listen man. they don't bother anyone outside of their borders about being muslims. They live their own lives and their own way. USA and Israel in particular who drives the USA keep stiring up shit there. I guess it's okay for the USA to bomb litteraly every ME country over the last twenty years and kill probably millions, and some group does the 9/11 attacks and the USA acts ignorant as to why they hate them.

I laugh when the media was saying that Americans are struggling to understand the senseless violence. HAHAHA. Americans can't understand sensless violence? They fucking invented it.

they dont integrate

they exploit the freedom to express extreme views then riot when others mock their religion

HAHAHA. Yes, muslims go around knocking on doors everyday asking if you want to be one. Listen man. they don't bother anyone outside of their borders about being muslims. They live their own lives and their own way. USA and Israel in particular who drives the USA keep stiring up shit there. I guess it's okay for the USA to bomb litteraly every ME country over the last twenty years and kill probably millions, and some group does the 9/11 attacks and the USA acts ignorant as to why they hate them.

I laugh when the media was saying that Americans are struggling to understand the senseless violence. HAHAHA. Americans can't understand sensless violence? They fucking invented it.

they exploit the freedom to express extreme views then riot when others mock their religion

You just described the chinese, vietnamese, russians etc... Do you think integration is when cities have china towns, or little russia, or little poland etc... most of the recent immigrants don't assimilate. They create their own little cultures.

The riots are stupid I agree. You know that some groups out there are stirring this shit up. Not like some tunisian was on youtube and happened to come across this video. People are purposely stirring shit up to start another war to make billions more.

You just described the chinese, vietnamese, russians etc... Do you think integration is when cities have china towns, or little russia, or little poland etc... most of the recent immigrants don't assimilate. They create their own little cultures.

The riots are stupid I agree. You know that some groups out there are stirring this shit up. Not like some tunisian was on youtube and happened to come across this video. People are purposely stirring shit up to start another war to make billions more.

i think lack of integration is an issue across all the cultures you have described

most racism is based on fear or lack of knowledge

but i do have an issue with the extremism and fanatacism their is a large polish community in the uk but they dont walk onto buses and blow themselves up or form gangs to rape and abuse white teenage girls

HAHAHA. Yes, muslims go around knocking on doors everyday asking if you want to be one. Listen man. they don't bother anyone outside of their borders about being muslims. They live their own lives and their own way. USA and Israel in particular who drives the USA keep stiring up shit there. I guess it's okay for the USA to bomb litteraly every ME country over the last twenty years and kill probably millions, and some group does the 9/11 attacks and the USA acts ignorant as to why they hate them.

I laugh when the media was saying that Americans are struggling to understand the senseless violence. HAHAHA. Americans can't understand sensless violence? They fucking invented it.